SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame began the spring dual season hosting the Duquesne Dukes of the Atlantic 10 conference. This was the 3rd meeting in history between the programs and like the first two, most recently in 1951, the Irish would win the match.
In doubles, the Irish would race out of the gates with 6-0 wins at both #1 and #3 positions to secure the early 1-0 lead in just 25 minutes. Sebastian Dominko and Peter Nad, the #78 ranked team in the country, took the top court while seniors Jamie Corsillo and Yu Zhang followed quickly behind at #3 to clinch the point. The #2 team of Chase Thompson and Kyran Magimay were a mere few points away from winning their match as they led 5-1 when play was abandoned.
In singles, Thompson would tally the first singles match of the new dual season with a 6-0, 6-0 win at #3 singles. Magimay would follow next with a 6-2, 6-1 win of his own on court #4 to put the Irish within one of the victory. Dominko, ranked #28 in the country and playing the top spot in the lineup, clinched the team match with hist 6-4, 6-2 win.
The remaining matches would be played to conclusion in the opening dual of the day. Freshman Peter Nad picked up his first singles dual match win of his career with a 6-2, 6-1 win at #5 singles followed by a 6-1, 6-2 victory by Zhang at #2. Corsillo would make it a perfect start to the year with a 6-2, 6-4 win at #6 and clinch the sweep of the Dukes without dropping a set.
The second act of the day saw a very familiar foe in Western Michigan make the short trip to South Bend for opening day action. The more competitive match of the day saw the Irish take another doubles point, starting with Thompson and Magimay starting it off with a 6-1 win at #2 doubles. Then Dominko and Nad picked up their first ranked win of the year taking out #109 team, who represented the MAC at the ITA Conference Masters this fall, by a score of 6-3 to clinch the doubles point.
In singles action, the Irish played the same singles lineup as the morning and Nad started the winning for Notre Dame with a routine 6-2, 6-3 win at #5. Magimay was next off the court with a pair of 6-3 sets featuring 10 deuce games. Corsillo would providing the clinching point with a 6-4, 6-4 match to tally the second team victory of the day and year.
Dominko would defeat the top Bronco 6-3, 6-4 and Thompson would play the only 3-set match of the day and come out victorious 6-4, 6-7(7), 1-0(6) at #3 singles. Zhang finished up the long day as the last man on the court, unfortunately falling in a long straight set match as the team wrapped up the 6-1 victory to move to 2-0 on the young season.
Up Next:
Notre Dame will play a trio of matches next weekend at home in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish will host Princeton in the Friday night feature to kick off the weekend with the match starting at 6pm. It will be the Tigers first match of the season where they boast 3 singles players and 3 doubles teams who appear in the national rankings.
On Sunday, another Ivy League team will come to South Bend as the Yale Bulldogs will line up at noon across from the Irish. In the final match of the weekend, Notre Dame will host their second opponent of the year from the Atlantic 10 Conference, the Saint Joseph Hawks from Philadelphia.
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Match 1
Notre Dame 7 Duquesne 0
Doubles
- #78 Dominko/Nad(ND) def. Duclos/Vogelaar(DUQ) 6-0
- Magimay/Thompson(ND) vs. Patel/Lana(DUQ) 5-1 DNF
- Corsillo/Zhang(ND) def. Manning/Cianciotti(DUQ) 6-0
Order of Finish (1, 3)
Singles
- #28 Dominko(ND) def. Duclos(DUQ) 6-4, 6-2
- Zhang(ND) def. Lana(DUQ) 6-1, 6-2
- Thompson(ND) def. Vogelaar(DUQ) 6-0, 6-0
- Magimay(ND) def. Patel(DUQ) 6-2, 6-1
- Nad(ND) def. Manning(DUQ) 6-2, 6-1
- Corsillo(ND) def. Papadopoulos(DUQ) 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish (3, 4, 1, 5, 2, 6)
Match 2
Notre Dame 6 Western Michigan 1
Doubles
- #78 Dominko/Nad(ND) def. #109 Davison/Pierce(WMU) 6-3
- Magimay/Thompson(ND) def. Arzhankin/Evans(WMU) 6-1
- Corsillo/Zhang(ND) vs. Adesoro/Corwin(WMU) 3-4 DNF
Order of Finish (2, 1)
Singles
- #28 Dominko(ND) vs. def. Arzhankin(WMU) 6-3, 6-4
- Adesoro(WMU) def. Zhang(ND)7-5, 6-2
- Thompson(ND) def. Pierce(WMU) 6-4, 6-7(7), 1-0(6)
- Magimay(ND) def. Corwin(WMU) 6-3, 6-3
- Nad(ND) def. Davison(WMU) 6-2, 6-3
- Corsillo(ND) def. Antonopoulos(WMU) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish (5, 4, 1, 6, 3, 2)